Method and means for the wrapping of articles such as fruit with paper



Dec. 8, 1959 Filed Jan. 27, 1958 l. J. VOULLAIRE METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE WRAPPING OF ARTICLES SUCH AS FRUITWITH PAPER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 8, 1959 I J. VOULLAIRE ARTICLES SUCH AS FRUIT WITH Filed Jan. 27, 1958 METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE WRAPPING OF PAPER 4 Sheets-Sheet Dec. 8, 1959 J VQULLAlRE 2,915,861

METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE WRAPPING 0F ARTICLES SUCH AS FRUIT WITH PAPER Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 8, 1959 I. J. VOULLAIRE METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE WRAPPING 0F ARTICLES sucn AS FRUIT WITH PAPER Filed Jan. 27, I 1958 4 Sheets-$heet 4 United States Patent METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE WRAPPING 0F ARTICLES SUCH AS FRUIT WITH PAPER Izak Johannes Voullaire, Mildura, Victoria, Australia Application January 27, 1958, Serial No. 711,273 Claimspriority, application AustraliaJanuary 29, 1957 16 Claims. (Cl. 53 34) This invention relates to the wrapping of articles with relatively thin paper particularly tissue paper and is directed principally, though not exclusively, to the wrapping of fruit, e.g., citrus fruit. 7 The invention is, in one principal application, related to the wrapping of fruit, and particularly oranges, prior to the packing of the fruit.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a simple and effective mechanical method of wrapping articles in tissue or like paper having the desirable characteristic of folding the paper compactly in form-fitting relation about the body of the article and effectively twisting the free edge portion of the paper to prevent the finished wrapper from working loose or parting from the article.

vA further object of the invention is to provide such a method especially suitable for the wrapping of articles of fruit, e.g., citrus fruit, the method constituting the preliminary step in the packing of the articles of fruit in cases.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and efliective apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention.

With the above stated principal objectives in view there is provided, according to the invention, a method of mechanically wrapping tissue or like paper about an article comprising the steps of yieldably supporting a sheet of the paper in the path of an article to be wrapped. delivering the article ontothe sheet, relatively moving the article and the yieldable support whereby the'latter draws the paper over and about the article and engages the edge portion of the paper to form a gathered neck thereof so as to enclose the article with the neck of paper still engaged by the yieldable support, and rotating the article in a direction to twist said neck of paper to tighten it and thereby complete the wrapping of the papersabout the article.

The twisting of the neck of paper in the last described operation also assists to efiect its disengagement from the yieldable support to free the wrapped article for removal, or for transfer to the packing apparatus in the packing, for example, of fruit.

To implement the above stated method there is provided, according to the invention, apparatus for wrapping tissue or like paper about articles comprising a yieldable support to which the sheet of the paper is delivered, means for delivering an article to be wrapped onto said sheet, means for moving the article and the sheet through the yieldable support whereby the latterdraws the paper over and about the article and engages the edge portion of the paper to form a gathered neck thereof so as to enclose the article with the neck of paper still engaged by the yieldable support, and means for rotating the wrapped article in a direction to twist said neck of paper to tighten it and thereby complete the wrapping of the paper about the article.

- More-specifically the invention provides apparatus for wrapping tissue or like paper about articles comprising a yieldable support to which a sheet of the paper is delivered and having a resilient expansible opening, means for delivering an article to be wrapped onto said sheet, means for pressing the article and the sheet through'the opening to expand the latter whereby the yieldable support folds and wraps the sheet about the article as they pass through the opening, means for reversing the direction of movement of the Wrapped article relative to the yieldable support as said opening resiles and grips the edge portion of the sheet and gathers it to form a neck of paper, and means for rotating (to commence as opening resiles) the wrapped article so as to twist the said neck and complete the wrappingof the article.

The pressure upon the article carries the sheet of paper through the resilient expansible opening, the resilience and the expansibility of the opening, and the extentof the said movement being such as to wrap the sheet closely about the article to enclose the latter in the manner of a sack. Towards completion of the movement the resilient opening resiles taking the sheet with it and gathering the free edge portion thereof into a neck which is held in the opening.

To insure that the resiling opening follows the contour of the article during the latter part of this last operation and does not lose its grip upon the neck, the relative movement between the wrapped article and the yieldable support is reversed at this stage to bring them closer together at the termination of the movement.

The neck is thus gripped in the resilient opening, and the wrapped article is simultaneously rotated, wherebythe frictionally held neck is twisted and securely closed to complete the wrapping of the article. The number of twisting turns is optional but is sutlicient to insure that the wrapper does not Work loose from the article.

It will be understood that this finaltwisting of the neck will shorten the latter so that thewrapp ed article is thereby assisted to become disengaged from the opening, the size of the sheet of paper employed, the relative axial movement and the number of twists allbeing correlated to bring this about.

In one form of the invention as applied to wrapping fruit, for example, the apparatus consists essentially ofa table having a substantially circular opening in whiclris suspended a plurality of radially disposed leaves or fingers composed of resilient material and free at their inner ends.

Sheets of tissue paper, which, for convenience in preparation, are preferably rectangular though they may of course be circular or polygonal in shape, are fed centrally onto the table opening to provide a marginal area about the resilient fingers.

The articles of fruit are delivered in succession to the feeding position concentric with the circular opening, to be passed onto the tissue sheet at the centre of the resilient fingers. Means such as a plunger is arranged to descend upon the article of fruit.

The pressure exerted upon the fruit forces it, and the tissue, through the opening, parting the resilient fingers, and the sheet of paper under the fruit in being forced through the fingers is folded into a sack about the fruit, said fingers being depressed and spread apart to perform the folding and wrapping action.

i The free edge portion of the sheet remains between the fingers to 'forma reduced neck above the article o'ffruit after the latter has passed through the lingers Which'then resile and close about the said neck. I v

Simultaneously the article of fruit is supported and gripped by means beneath the table and the direction of vertical movement of the fruit is momentarily reversed either'by raising the fruit towards the table or by lowering the latter temporarily towards the supported fruit, and rotation commenced.

The neck of the wrapped sheet is thus freed of unnecessary tension and as the resilient fingers return to their normal position the free edges of the sheet interleavewiththe said fingers due to the relative movement .therebetween consequent upon their overlapping relation.

Thus the neck soformed is frictionally held-by-the resilient fingers and the article of fruit is mechanically rotated a numberof times to efiect the twisting of the neck and is finally disengaged from the former.

V The wrapped fruit is then in condition for transfer to packing mechanism or to be otherwise disposed of.

One practical arrangement of the invention as applied to fruit wrapping will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is a sectional elevation of the wrapping apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a plan view on section 2--2 of Fig. 1 with one radial arm sectioned.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of portion of the conveyor belt showing details of the resilient fingers.

Fig. 4 is a view of section 4-4 of Fig. 1 showingthe mechanism for pressing the article and wrapping paper through the resilient fingers.

Fig. 5 is a view of section 55 in Fig. 1 showing the article gripping head engaged with its rotation sub-track.

Fig. 6 is a view of section 6-6 in Fig. 2 showing the mechanism which guides the radial arm around the guide track.

Fig. 7 is a view of section 77 in Fig. 2 with portion of the radial arm shown in phantom.

Fig. 8 is a view of section 8-8 in Fig. 2 showing a radial arm approaching the roll-over mechanism for inverting the gripping head.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 with the radial arm engaged with the roll-over mechanism and the gripping head in the inverted position.

Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation of the gripping head when viewed from theouter end of the radial arm, and with an article in position prior to being gripped.

Fig. 11 is a view of section 1111 in Fig. 10 with the gripping tongs of the gripping head shown in phantom. V Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation similar to Fig. 10 but with the article gripped by the gripping tongs.

Fig. 13 is a view of section 1313 in Fig. 11.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the frame of the machine is indicated generally at 15 and carries four rollers 16 which support and guide the chain type endless conveyor belt 17. r

its travel a second carrier arm 41 and crank arm 42 are provided. I

The movementof the pusher rod 38 is timed in relation to the travel of the conveyor belt 17 so that the shaped head 39 engages each piece of fruit as it moves along the conveyor and pushes it through the aperture 24, the resilient fingers 26 giving way in the process. I I V Mounted below the upper traverse of the conveyor belt is a circular frame 43 which carries a track 44. The axis of the circular frame is oifset in relation to the center line of the conveyor belt and is coaxial with a shaft 46.

Bearings 47 support the shaft 46 which is driven from the main shaft 18 by bevel gear 48 and 49.

Projecting radially from this shaft 46 and rigidly connected thereto, are six spokes 50 each having a sleeve 51 slidably fitted to its'outer end. These sleeves are rotatably mounted in U-shaped brackets 52 which are guided around'the track 44 by rollers 53, the arrangement constituting traversing means for the fruit after wrapping.

Rigidly attached to each sleeve 51 is a fruit gripping head 54, details of which are shown in Fig. 10. 1 Referring now to Fig. 10, mounting block 56 is Welded to the sleeve 51 and slidably supports the gripping head frame 57. A U-shaped bracket 58 is locked in engagement with'the head frame '57 by the nut 60. The arms 61 of the U-shaped bracket 58 are slotted so the gripping head frame 57 can be raised or lowered in relation to the mounting block 56 and locked in position by the wing nuts 62.

The flanged end 63 of the gripping head frame 57 has two bearing pillars 64 in which gripping tongs 66 are pivotally located by spindles 67 to form a bifurcated member.

An over-center link mechanism comprising links 70, 71 and 72 connects'lugs 68 on the gripping head frame 57 to pins 69 projecting from the lower end of the spindles 67.

Each controlling link 71 of the over-center link mechanism is operatively connected to a plunger 74 by the link 72 and a pin 73.

Power is supplied to the main shaft 18 of the machine by the sprocket 19 and chain 20 from an external source not shown.

Conveyor roller shaft 21 is extended to receive a sprocket 22, which is driven by a chain 23 from the main shaft 18 (Fig. 2).

The conveyor belt 17 has a series of apertures 24 equally spaced along its length. Bonded around the perimeter of each aperture is a series of radially disposed inwardly directed, resilient fingers 26 composed of rubber or like material (Fig. 3).

These fingers overlap one another along one side, and their inner free ends define a small central opening 27 within the aperture 24. f:

As the conveyor belt commences to travel along the top traverse of its path, in the direction indicated by the arrow 28, a piece of wrapping paper 29, of predetermined size is placed substantially centrally over the aperture 24. The piece of fruit to be wrapped 30 is then placed centrally on the wrapping paper.

A vertical extension 31 of the frame 15 carries a shaft 32 (Fig. 4) driven by the sprocket'33 and chain 34 from the main shaft 18. Shaft 32 has a crank arm 36, to the outer end of which is rotatably fitted a carrier arm 37. A pusher rod 38, having a cup shaped head 39, is locked to the carrier arm 37 by the set screw 40. 1 z.

In order to maintain the pusher rod 38' vertical during When the plunger 74 is caused to move down relative to the gripping head frame 57 by the application of a small force on'a cup 76, the over-center linkage is tripped, and springs 77 cause the spindles 67 to rotate partially. Thus the tongs 66 move inwardly to grip resiliently the piece of fruit which has been located upon cup 76 by the shaped head 39 in the operation previously described.

Figs. '12 and 13 show the gripping head 54 with the overcenter linkage in the tripped position and the piece of fruit gripped by the tongs 66.

Returning now to Fig. 1, after initial engagement of the pusher rod 38 and head 39 with the piece of fruit 30 the continued downward movement of the pusher rod causes the fruit and the wrapping paper to be forced through the resilient fingers 26 covering the aperture 24.

The resilient fingers impart a wrapping action to the wrapping paper and maintain it in close contact with the piece of fruit as it is forced through said fingers. The free edges of the sheet of paper remain in the opening 27 to form a reduced neck.

Upon the piece of fruit passing completely through the resilient fingers, the latter resile to close about and grip the neck so formed.

Simultaneously the piece of fruit is received by the cup 76 of the fruit gripping head 54 which has moved into position below the conveyor belt 17.

A slight downward movement is now imparted to the conveyor belt 17 by means of the two sprockets 80 and 81. This downward movement while relieving tension on the neck, causes the piece of fruit to apply a corresponding downward movement to the cup 76 and plunger 74.

As previously described this downward movement of the plunger 74 trips the over-center link mechanism causing the gripping tongs 66 to close and resiliently grip the piece of fruit on the cup 76.

After the piece of fruit has been so gripped the friction roller 82, on the lower extremity of the gripping head frame 57, engages the rotation sub-track 83 (Figs. 2 and 5). As the friction roller 82 moves along this sub-track 83 it rotates the gripping head and the piece of fruit held therein a suitable number of turns which for example, may be approximately three complete revolutions.

While the piece of fruit is being rotated the neck formed in the wrapping paper is still held by the resilient fingers 26 on the conveyor 17, thus effecting a twisting of the neck.

It is obvious that from the time the piece of fruit is received by the cup 76 to the completion of the twisting operation the gripping head must move in substantial unison with the conveyor belt. In order to achieve this the portion 45 of the track 44 is so shaped that in combination with the angular movement of the radial spoke 50 it will impart a straight line movement to the gripping head, sleeve 51 sliding upon the spoke 50 accordingly.

From the point where the piece of fruit is first gripped by the gripping head the conveyor belt gradually moves upwards to its original level. This upward movement is such that after completion of the twisting operation the resilient fingers 26 are pulled clear of the twisted neck of the wrapping paper.

Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive show the mechanism for releasing the gripping tongs 66 and discharging the wrapped piece of fruit from the gripping head.

The cam lever 86 pivotally connected to the bracket 52 by pin 87 carries a roller 88. Intermediate link 89 connects cam lever 86 to pin lever 90 which is also pivoted on bracket 52 by pin 91. Locking pin 92 is rigidly connected to pin lever 90 and is normally held in engagement with sprocket 93 by the spring 94.

Connected to the circular frame 43 and projecting over the track 4-4 is a cam plate 95 having a length of chain 96 rigidly attached to its underface 85. An inwardly directed right angle bracket 97 is mounted upon the cam plate 95 and has its lower face 98 shaped to act as a cam.

As the sleeve 51 is moved around the track 44 the cam lever 86 is depressed by the roller 88 engaging the under face 85 of the cam plate 95. This downward movement is transferred through the intermediate lever 89 to the pin lever 90 causing the locking pin 92 to disengage from the sprocket 93.

Simultaneously with the release of the locking pin the sprocket 93 begins to mesh with the chain 96.

As it moves along the chain 96, the sprocket 93, being rigidly attached to the sleeve 51, causes the latter with its attached gripping head 54 to rotate about the radial spoke 50. As the gripping head is rotated the end of the plunger 74 projecting from the lower end of the "frame 57 engages the cam face 98 of bracket 97 (Fig. 9).

The movement of the plunger end over the cam face 98 presses said plunger back into the frame 57 causing the over-center link mechanism to return to its original open position thus effecting the release of the piece of fruit from the tongs 66.

The cam face 98 is so positioned that the piece of fruit is released when the gripping head is in the inverted position and thus the fruit falls into a chute 180 (Fig. 2).

Further movement of the sprocket 93 along the chain 96 returns the gripping head to its normal upright position whereat the roller 88 clears the underface 85 of the cam plate 95 thus allowingthe locking pin 92 to engage the sprocket 93 and hold steady the sleeve 51.

The gripping head is now positioned in readiness to receive another piece of fruit when it next passes under the conveyor belt.

The chute may be arranged to transfer the wrapped fruit to a packing station for packing into fruit cases by manual means or by conventional apparatus.

Although the machine has been described with particular reference to the wrapping of fruit it is quite obvious that the same machine could be used for the wrapping of any article of substantially regular shape.

I-claim:

1. A method of mechanically wrapping tissue or like paper about an article comprising the steps of yieldably supporting a sheet of the paper in the path of an article to be wrapped, delivering the article onto the sheet, relatively moving the article and the yieldable support whereby the latter draws the paper over and about the article and engages the edge portion of the paper to form a gathered neck thereof so as to enclose the article with the neck of paper still engaged by the yieldable support, reducing the relative movement of the article and support and rotating the article to twist said neck of paper to tighten it and thereby complete the wrapping of the paper about the article.

2. A method of mechanically wrapping tissue or like paper about an article comprising the timed and correlated steps of yieldably supporting a sheet of the paper in the path of an article to be wrapped, feeding the article centrally onto the sheet of paper, moving the article relative to the yieldable support whereby the latter draws the paper over the article while folding the paper about said article so as to enclose it and provide a gathered neck portion of paper projecting from the enclosed article and gripped by the yieldable support, reducing the relative movement of the article and support and rotating the article in a direction to twist the gripped projecting neck portion to complete the Wrapping of the paper firmly about the article.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the reducing of the relative movement of the article and the yieldable support is effected by reversing said movement.

4. The method of mechanically Wrapping tissue or like paper about an article of fruit comprising the timed and correlated steps of placing a sheet of the paper'centrally over a resilient expansible opening, feeding an article of fruit onto the sheet of paperin alignment with the opening, pressing the article of fruit and paper through the opening to expand the latter whereby the sheet of paper is wrapped about said article and formed into a gathered neck of the paper projecting from the article and gripped by the resiling opening reducing the relative movement of the article and the opening and rotating the wrapped article of fruit so as to twist the said neck of paper and thereby complete the wrapping of the paper firmly about the article of fruit.

5. A method of mechanically wrapping tissue or like paper about an article of fruit comprising the timed and correlated steps of feeding a sheet of the paper onto a number of symmetrical resilient fingers defining a central expansible opening, delivering an article of fruit onto the paper in central alignment with said opening, applying pressure to the article of fruit so as to expand the fingers and force the article and paper through the opening to effect the wrapping of the paper as a sack about said article with a projecting neck portion of the sack disposed in said opening whereby upon the wrapped article passing through said fingers the latter resile and grip the neck, reversing the direction of movement between the wrapped article and the opening and concomitantly rotating the wrapped article of fruit while the neck portion is thus gripped so as to twist the latter and complete the wrapping of the paper firmly about said article.

6. Apparatus for wrapping tissue or like paper about articles comprising a yieldable support to which a sheet of the paper is delivered and having a resilient, expansible opening, means for delivering an article to be Wrapped onto said sheet, means for pressing the article and the sheet through the opening to expand the latter whereby the yieldable support folds and wraps the sheet about the article as they pass through the opening, means for reversing the direction of movement of the wrapped articl e relative to the yieldable support as said opening reslles and grips the edge portion of the sheet and gathers it to form a neck of paper, and means for rotating the r 7 7 wrapped article so as to twist the said neck and complete the wrapping of the article. 7. Apparatus for wrapping tissue or like paper about articles comprising a substantially horizontal traversing surface having a circular expansible opening upon which a sheet of the paper is fed, said opening having a plurality of radially disposed, inwardly directed, resilient fingers, means for delivering an article to be wrapped onto said sheet, means vertically movable relative to said surface for pressing the article and the sheet through the resilient fingers to expand the latter thereby folding and wrapping the sheet about the article as they jointly pass through the opening, means for supporting the wrapped article and reversing its direction of vertical movement relative to the opening as the resilient fingers therein resile and grip the free edge portion of the sheet to gather it to form a neck of paper, means for traversing the supporting means in unison with said surface, means for gripping the wrapped article upon the supporting means, and means for rotating the supporting means upon a vertical axis to twist the neck and complete the wrapping of the article. a

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the traversing surface is an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of said expansible openings therein in equidistant spaced relation, the resilient fingers in each such opening being overlapping leaf-like members defining an aperture at the center of the opening corresponding to the size of the said neck of paper.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the vertically movable means comprises a vertically adjustable pusher rod, a pair of crank arms operatively connected to the rod and angularly rotated in unison in timed relation with the conveyor belt, whereby the pusher rod is maintained in vertical position while its lower end follows a circular course determined by the crankarms', said lower end being arranged to register with the center of an opening in said conveyor belt on each downward stroke of the crank arms thereby pressing an article with its wrapping paper positioned upon said opening through the resilient fingers.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, comprising means controlling the reversal of the direction of vertical move ment of the article relative to the conveyor belt whereby the reversal is continued after the article has passed through the opening therein for at least part of the durationiof the twisting operation.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 comprising means causing the conveyor belt and the supporting means to approach each other relatively.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the means for traversing the supporting means comprises a member mounted below the traversing surface and rotated about a vertical axis laterallyolf-set from said surface, said member including a plurality of horizontal radially disposed spokes upon the outward extremity of each is slidablymounted one of the said supporting means, and a track disposed circumjacent the spoke extremities and co-operating with the supporting means to define the course of the latter, an arc of the track lying beneath the traversing surface being so contoured as to causethe supporting means to follow a linear course substantially parallel with that of the traversing surface, and the memher being rotated atan angular velocity such as to progress the supporting means substantially in unison the, said surface at least from the time the article is received by the supporting means until the completion of the twisting operation.

tion of a predetermined pressure upon the article in the cup the plunger moves, an over-center link mechanism engageable by the plunger to permit the spring to actuate the gripping tongs to close the latter and grip the article, and a sleeve, the gripping head being mounted for rotation about a vertical axis upon said sleeve which i in turn is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis upon one of the said spokes.

14. Apparatus'according to claim 13, wherein the gripping head includes a friction roller, a sub-track to engage the roller whereby the gripping head is rotated upon its vertical axis, the sub-track being positioned as to produce rotation of the head immediately after the said tongs of the latter have gripped the article therebetween until completion of the twisting operation.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein means associated with said track rotates said sleeve upon said spoke through from a first position to a second position when the gripping head has progressed to a discharge sector on the track subsequent to the twisting operation, thus inverting the gripping head, the apparatus further comprising cam means for actuating the said vertical plunger causing it to trip the over-center mechanism in a direction to free the gripping tongs from the article and restore the said over-center mechanism to the position in which the tongs are held open, while releasing the article at the discharge sector, whereafter said first mentioned means operates to continue the ro- 'tation of the sleeve upon the spoke to restore the gripping head to its first position in readiness to repeat the cycle of operations.

16. A method of mechanically wrapping tissue or like paper about an article, comprising the stepsof disposing a sheet of paper in the path of an article to be wrapped, delivering the article to the paper, relatively moving the article and with it the sheet of paper, simultaneously drawing and folding the paper about the article to enclose the latter and form a gathered neck of paper, gripping the gathered neck of paper, reducing the relative movement of the article and rotating the article to twist said neck of paper so as to tighten it and thereby complete the wrapping of the article.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 472,202 Tripp Apr. 5, 1892 2,218,293 Muller Oct. 15, 1940 2,513,459 Dodge July 4, 1950 2,622,380 Snyder ,Dec., 23,1952 2,718,107 Vaughan Sept. 20, 1955 2,743,564 Van Dok May 1, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,260 France Jan. 7, 1915 

